Have you ever told yourself or someone else that you’d get around to doing something when ‘…’? For example, “I’ll join a gym when the kids are back in school”, or “I’ll tell her about it when she has more time”. I can tell you right now, you’ll probably never actually do those things.
There’s a language pattern we often use to give ourselves permission to take the easy road when the hard road is necessary. It follows this form: “I will (X) when (Y)”. We use it all the time. X is what we know we should do, Y is our excuse for not doing it. Why do I use the letter ‘Y’? Why? Why? Your ‘why’ doesn’t matter… what matters is that you have one.
Excuses are easy to generate… we create them all the time, and we’re great at it. We often call it ‘being considerate’ or ‘being compassionate’. We sometimes call it ‘being realistic’, ‘being reasonable’, ‘being practical’, or ‘being careful’. We should call it ‘being lazy’. Because, really, when it comes right down to it, that’s all it is.
It doesn’t matter what your excuse is. If you have an excuse today, you’ll probably have one tomorrow. It may not be the same excuse, but you’ll have one.
Why aren’t you eating right? Why aren’t you exercising? Why aren’t you having that conversation with your boss or your loved one?
Excuses.
The excuse, the Y, the ‘…’ is all that’s preventing you from having a better life experience. Throw it out. Stop the sentence before ‘when’: “I will do it.”
Then go do it.
In the news
- In other words, minor indicators indicate minor problems: Many Kids Outgrow Chronic Headaches
- And retracts after age ‘I got a car’: Ability to Consider Other People’s Thoughts Grows After Age 6
- Uh, well, duh: Younger Teens Really Do Care What People Think
Quote for the week
Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows. – Pope Paul VI
Healthy thoughts,
Jeff
